Such an inspirational subject, eh? I wrote that because I felt that “The difference a threat can make,” sounded far too intimidating and non-peace corps like and I am always trying to be oh so peace corps like… But let’s get serious and let me be honest with you: with it only being halfway through my third week teaching this semester, I will glady predict it is going to be my best yet! Why? Well, I feel the indirect reason is that principal has informed all the students that my class will now be examined. Who knew. Not me! At least not when he told the entire assembly of students, but that’s fine. It just kicked me into high gear and got me prepping as a teacher.

The end result? I don’t know, but for some strange reason I am now having full attendance, which I now feel obligated to call, as well as somewhat punctual students. For Kenyans, the fact that even ONE of my students arrives BEFORE class is amazing. Like, pants-peeing amazing. The fact that I have whole majorities of classes showing before class starts almost causes anuerisms. On top of that, they all respect my rule of, “You must have a pen and notebook in front of you. I don’t care if you use it, I don’t care if you sleep on it, I don’t care if it just sits there unopened the entire time, it must be in front of you.”

On top of all this, they ask questions. And when I answer them, if they don’t understand the answer, they ask again! This is a huge improvement. I gave them a test today, and asked them in as reassuring a manner as possible, how can I make this test better. They said my questions were too long and they did not know what was expected of them. This is a perfectly legitimate concern considering they have a grasp of english roughly consistent with an 8th grader in america. It’s just not their primary language, and I need to know how to utilize it so that they understand me. Last semester, if I had asked them to critique something I had done, they would have stayed quiet and I would never have known something so simple was causing so much distress.

Finally, they laugh at me. They laugh at my jokes. They laugh at my energy in class. They never see one of their kenyan teachers energetically moving around the room telling people to treat their computer mice nicely like a lady (don’t ask…). It’s different; I am different, and either they are getting used to me, or to being first years, I don’t know, but they laugh when they should. And I don’t treat them like children, untrustworthy children like some of my peers say I should. How are we ever going to teach trust here if a teacher cannot trust his students. Connecticut College drilled into me the importance of its Honor Code, and I saw what an amazing academic environment springs up around such inherent trust placed in individuals. But how can a student here ever feel trusted if the teachers call them liars and thieves blatantly to their faces. Maybe I am naive on this point, but I have a lot of work on my plate, and if I don’t start trusting my students, it’s going to make life much more unecessarily difficult. So they have my trust.

Disclaimer

This blog is an account of active Peace Corps service in Kenya from 2008 to 2011. Please be advised that what I write here are my own opinions and observations, which do not reflect the official views of the Peace Corps. Kenya diggit?

Comment Disclaimer

The comments posted in response to blog articles on this website do not represent my personal views, the views of the United States Government nor the views of the United States Peace Corps. They represent only the views of the individual who has written them.